Body Removal off Frame

[HeavyUser]

Replacing the frame?? LS swap BABY!!

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[Lou Bunn]

I was talking to a fellow Jeeper last summer and he was saying that he and the company he use to work for had some kind of government deal where they were modifying JL's for special uses. Now, he seemed like a trustworthy dude and I have no reason to think he wasn't legit. He was telling me how he did the same thing - bought a JL off salvage and replaced the frame, according to him it is not that bad. All I can say is good luck and please post on the progress, I'm sure I'm not the only one that would love to see how it goes!

 

[KIVO]

Unless you are a mechanic or have professional level skills I wouldn't try this on your own ad you will have to remove the the entire powertrain and such.

Hell no - you should talk to some Defender owners or visit Deffy forums
The number of defenders from which the body was removed to repair or recondition the frame - the old ones are prone to serious rust -, whether by professional companies, by owner clubs as a joined project, or individual owners, are countless. Can't be much - if any - harder in case of a Wrangler.

 

[roaniecowpony]

I've done a swap like this before....it's not that bad for body on frame. Just label all your wiring harnesses as you unplug them. A good ceiling mounted hoist or lift is a very nice thing to have to pick up the body and roll the chassis out from under it. Then just cherry pick the drivetrain and put it in the new frame on stands....then swap the axles/suspension over and put the body back on.

Photos of the disassembly would help with reassembly too. I was also thinking about a lift or hoist or both. Maybe a 2 post lift would be the cheapest and most efficient way to go. Some of them are below $1500. I don't think you'd come out ahead by much trying to home build an overhead hoist over a 2 post. I suppose you could lift the body off with a couple floor jacks and a large pile of cribbing wood. But if you had to do it more than once it would be painful, and I would guess rebuilding the front structure would take a couple body installations or more. Having a lift around afterward is a big bonus, if you have the real estate for one.

 

[KIVO]

Having no the right equipment to lift an engine out, I once made a wooden trolley, jacked the front of the car up, put the trolley under the engine, lowered the car on the trolley, disconnected the last bolts that held the engine in place, and finally jacked the front of the car up again to pull the engine now resting on the trolley out. Did work like a charm, and put the engine back in in reverse order.

Guess - assuming you would remove the heaviest body parts including doors anyway -, you could use the door hinges, or their attachment points, to jack the body up, that way leaving enough room to pull the frame still on wheels from underneath the body. I'd fabricate something like that to make that work

 

[Tech Tim]

If you have the room, install a two-post car lift.

Not only can you use it to lift the body off the frame, you can use it for sorts of other auto tinkering.

 

[roaniecowpony]

If you look up Lite Brite on YouTube they did a good job of documenting the process of their engine swap, which involved lifting the body off the frame.

Here's the link

 

[jmcf1949]

Our Rubicon was purchased from auction as a salvage title as it had already been in a collision. My son and I have made it our project to repair it. The frame ends were bent fairly badly and after a bit of research it makes more sense for a few solid reasons to replace the entire frame. It’s not a task I originally planned on but it is now. Technically we are up to it. The biggest downside is just the amount of time and effort. On the upside we will learn a lot and we won’t be crabbing down the trail . Hope that explains things a little bit.

The JK/ JL frame is modular. One can replace the front, center, or rear section as needed. It was built this way on purpose.

 

[Rubycon50]

All great tips and thanks for the link to the video as well. I did watch it and it does look pretty straight forward even though I'm sure they edited the heck out of the process.

After doing some research and reading all the posts I think I will hoist the body using one of two methods:

1. Build a wooden or metal gantry with a chain block manual hoist; or
2. Use an engine hoist to lift one end then place blocks underneath it then do the same on the opposite end.

I placed an order for a new frame and it was $1500 delivered to my house (probably have to lift it off the truck?). Anyway, the bad news was they got back to me and said they are out of stock until maybe the end of february. I think this is the same with most resellers. It seems like the frame recall must have really emptied the market out.

I will put a (re)build post out to be sure to share it with everyone. I'll post my ideas on parts upgrades as well so folks can chime in.

 

[blnewt]

Look forward to seeing this move along. I did a frame off resto on a 74CJ5 and didn't have the luxury of digital photography so that's a big plus since you have your current JL in a complete state. Taking a jillion photos along the way to be sure all wiring and routing of everything is correct will make reassembly pretty straightforward, and organization and plenty of room is the key, sounds like you've got that well planned.
Main thing, have fun, what a great father son project you're taking on, KUDOS!

 

[viper88]

Look forward to seeing this move along. I did a frame off resto on a 74CJ5 and didn't have the luxury of digital photography so that's a big plus since you have your current JL in a complete state. Taking a jillion photos along the way to be sure all wiring and routing of everything is correct will make reassembly pretty straightforward, and organization and plenty of room is the key, sounds like you've got that well planned.
Main thing, have fun, what a great father son project you're taking on, KUDOS!

Or maybe even set up or wear one of those high-def video cameras like the Hero? They are made to be mounted to your chest or head and are heavy duty.

 

[KIVO]

And zip bags you can write on to keep all nuts, bolt, clips, and all other small stuff, that and pictures, pictures, pictures...
Some things are really obvious - one can mount an exhaust manifold in one way only - but a lot of things you initially think of "no worries, I'l remember this or that", might slip your mind anyway, for sure if the rebuild in the end takes for whatever reason longer then planned.

Lessons learned the hard way taking multiple cars down to bare metal and back

 

[roaniecowpony]

The JK/ JL frame is modular. One can replace the front, center, or rear section as needed. It was built this way on purpose.

I wasn't aware of that. Where and how do the modules attach to each other?

 

[JLURfab]

Lite-Brite did a engine swap where they took the body off if you look it up on YouTube

 

[Arterius2]

I will find it amazing if someone replies: “oh, how to remove the body from the frame on a JL, yup, here you go!” Good luck with the (re)build!

Also with a colored instruction manual in PDF format to match.

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